Measurements of group velocity of light in the lake Baikal water

The results of direct measurements of group velocity of light in the lake Baikal water at the depth of 1100 m are presented. The lake Baikal water dispersion has been measured at three wavelengths: 370 nm, 470 nm and 525 nm. The results are in a rather good agreement with theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, talk presented at RICH2002, to be published in NIMA; misprints corrected in formula at page

Dynamical properties of the unitary Fermi gas: collective modes and shock waves

We discuss the unitary Fermi gas made of dilute and ultracold atoms with an infinite s-wave inter-atomic scattering length. First we introduce an efficient Thomas-Fermi-von Weizsacker density functional which describes accurately various static properties of the unitary Fermi gas trapped by an external potential. Then, the sound velocity and the collective frequencies of oscillations in a harmonic trap are derived from extended superfluid hydrodynamic equations which are the Euler-Lagrange equations of a Thomas-Fermi-von Weizsacker action functional. Finally, we show that this amazing Fermi gas supports supersonic and subsonic shock waves.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, invited talk at the International Workshop "Critical Stability 2011" (Erice, October 2011), to be published in the journal Few Body System

Recent Advances in Understanding Particle Acceleration Processes in Solar Flares

We review basic theoretical concepts in particle acceleration, with particular emphasis on processes likely to occur in regions of magnetic reconnection. Several new developments are discussed, including detailed studies of reconnection in three-dimensional magnetic field configurations (e.g., current sheets, collapsing traps, separatrix regions) and stochastic acceleration in a turbulent environment. Fluid, test-particle, and particle-in-cell approaches are used and results compared. While these studies show considerable promise in accounting for the various observational manifestations of solar flares, they are limited by a number of factors, mostly relating to available computational power. Not the least of these issues is the need to explicitly incorporate the electrodynamic feedback of the accelerated particles themselves on the environment in which they are accelerated. A brief prognosis for future advancement is offered.Comment: This is a chapter in a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011

DLG4-related synaptopathy: a new rare brain disorder

PURPOSE: Postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), encoded by DLG4, regulates excitatory synaptic function in the brain. Here we present the clinical and genetic features of 53 patients (42 previously unpublished) with DLG4 variants.METHODS: The clinical and genetic information were collected through GeneMatcher collaboration. All the individuals were investigated by local clinicians and the gene variants were identified by clinical exome/genome sequencing.RESULTS: The clinical picture was predominated by early onset global developmental delay, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, all of which point to a brain disorder. Marfanoid habitus, which was previously suggested to be a characteristic feature of DLG4-related phenotypes, was found in only nine individuals and despite some overlapping features, a distinct facial dysmorphism could not be established. Of the 45 different DLG4 variants, 39 were predicted to lead to loss of protein function and the majority occurred de novo (four with unknown origin). The six missense variants identified were suggested to lead to structural or functional changes by protein modeling studies.CONCLUSION: The present study shows that clinical manifestations associated with DLG4 overlap with those found in other neurodevelopmental disorders of synaptic dysfunction; thus, we designate this group of disorders as DLG4-related synaptopathy.Genetics of disease, diagnosis and treatmen

Genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of infantile liver failure due to pathogenic TRMU variants

Purpose: The study aimed to define the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of reversible acute liver failure (ALF) of infancy resulting from biallelic pathogenic TRMU variants and to determine the role of cysteine supplementation in its treatment. Methods: Individuals with biallelic (likely) pathogenic variants in TRMU were studied through an international retrospective collection of de-identified patient data. Results: In 62 individuals, including 30 previously unreported cases, we described 48 (likely) pathogenic TRMU variants, of which, 18 were novel. Of these 62 individuals, 42 were alive at a median age of 6.8 (0.6-22) years after a median follow up of 3.6 (0.1-22) years. The most frequent finding, occurring in all but 2 individuals, was liver involvement. ALF occurred only in the first year of life and was reported in 43 of 62 individuals, 11 of whom received liver transplantation. Loss-of-function TRMU variants were associated with poor survival. Supplementation with at least 1 cysteine source, typically N-acetylcysteine, improved survival significantly. Neurodevelopmental delay was observed in 11 individuals and persisted in 4 of the survivors, but we were unable to determine whether this was a primary or a secondary consequence of TRMU deficiency. Conclusion: In most patients, TRMU-associated ALF is a transient, reversible disease and cysteine supplementation improved survival. © 2022 The AuthorsDMB-1805- 0002; 01GM1207; MR/S005021/1; G0800674; National Institutes of Health, NIH: 5U54-NS078059-11, 5U54-NS115198-02; Wellcome Trust, WT: 203105/Z/16/Z; PTC Therapeutics, PTC; Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, BRC; Medical Research Council, MRC: MR/W019027/1; Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland; National Health and Medical Research Council, NHMRC: GNT1155244, GNT1164479; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF: 01GM1906B, 01KU2016A; Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; State Government of Victoria; Astellas Pharma; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Frauen, BMBF; Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, MUI; King Salman Center for Disability Research, KSCDR: RG-2022-010; Lily FoundationThe Chair in Genomic Medicine awarded to J.C. is generously supported by The Royal Children’s HospitalFoundation The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation . We are grateful to the Crane, Perkins, and Miller families for their generous financial support. We thank the Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics for assistance with production and processing of genome sequencing data. This project was supported by the funding from MitoCanada ( https://mitocanada.org ) as part of the Mitochondrial Functional and Integrative Next Generation Diagnostics (MITO-FIND) study. This work was supported by the European Reference Network for Hereditary Metabolic Disorders (MetabERN). S.W. received funding from ERAPERMED2019-310 Personalized Mitochondrial Medicine (PerMiM): Optimizing diagnostics and treatment for patients with mitochondrial diseases FWF 4704-B. F.S.A. is funded by the National Institutes of Health along with the North American Mitochondrial Disease Consortia (5U54-NS078059-11), the Frontiers of Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation Consortia (FCDGC, 5U54-NS115198-02), Mervar Foundation, Courage for a Cure Foundation , PTC Therapeutics , Astellas Pharma Inc, and Saol Therapeutics. R.M. and R.W.T. are funded by the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research (203105/Z/16/Z), the Mitochondrial Disease Patient Cohort (United Kingdom) (G0800674), the Medical Research Council International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Disease (MR/S005021/1), the Medical Research Council (MR/W019027/1), the Lily Foundation , the UK NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ageing and Age-related Disease award to the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , and the UK NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders of Adults and Children. R.W.T. also receives funding from the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. J.C. is supported by a New South Wales Office of Health and Medical Research Council Sydney Genomics Collaborative grant. We acknowledge funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council ( NHMRC ): project grant GNT1164479 (D.R.T.) and Principal Research Fellowship GNT1155244 (D.R.T.). The research conducted at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute was supported by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support program. This study was supported by BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research ) through the German Network for Mitochondrial Diseases ([mitoNET] grant number 01GM1906B), Personalized Mitochondrial Medicine (PerMiM) (grant number 01KU2016A), and E-Rare project GENOMIT (grant number 01GM1207) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care within its framework of DigiMed Bayern (grant number DMB-1805- 0002). The authors extend their appreciation to the King Salman Center For Disability Research for funding this work through research group number RG-2022-010 (to F.S.A.)The Chair in Genomic Medicine awarded to J.C. is generously supported by The Royal Children's HospitalFoundationThe Royal Children's Hospital Foundation. We are grateful to the Crane, Perkins, and Miller families for their generous financial support. We thank the Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics for assistance with production and processing of genome sequencing data. This project was supported by the funding from MitoCanada (https://mitocanada.org) as part of the Mitochondrial Functional and Integrative Next Generation Diagnostics (MITO-FIND) study. This work was supported by the European Reference Network for Hereditary Metabolic Disorders (MetabERN). S.W. received funding from ERAPERMED2019-310 Personalized Mitochondrial Medicine (PerMiM): Optimizing diagnostics and treatment for patients with mitochondrial diseases FWF 4704-B. F.S.A. is funded by the National Institutes of Health along with the North American Mitochondrial Disease Consortia (5U54-NS078059-11), the Frontiers of Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation Consortia (FCDGC, 5U54-NS115198-02), Mervar Foundation, Courage for a CureFoundation, PTC Therapeutics, Astellas Pharma Inc, and Saol Therapeutics. R.M. and R.W.T. are funded by the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research (203105/Z/16/Z), the Mitochondrial Disease Patient Cohort (United Kingdom) (G0800674), the Medical Research Council International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Disease (MR/S005021/1), the Medical Research Council (MR/W019027/1), the LilyFoundation, the UK NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ageing and Age-related Disease award to the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the UK NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders of Adults and Children. R.W.T. also receives funding from the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. J.C. is supported by a New South Wales Office of Health and Medical Research Council Sydney Genomics Collaborative grant. We acknowledge funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC): project grant GNT1164479 (D.R.T.) and Principal Research Fellowship GNT1155244 (D.R.T.). The research conducted at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute was supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support program. This study was supported by BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) through the German Network for Mitochondrial Diseases ([mitoNET] grant number 01GM1906B), Personalized Mitochondrial Medicine (PerMiM) (grant number 01KU2016A), and E-Rare project GENOMIT (grant number 01GM1207) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care within its framework of DigiMed Bayern (grant number DMB-1805- 0002). The authors extend their appreciation to the King Salman Center For Disability Research for funding this work through research group number RG-2022-010 (to F.S.A.), Conceptualization: G.F.V. S.W.; Data Curation: G.F.V. S.W. Y.M.-G. Y.E.L. R.G.F. J.A.M. H.B. L.D.S. H.Pr. A.Pec. F.S.A. J.J.B. G.B. I.B. N.B. B.B. J.C. E.C. D.C. A.M.D. N.D. A.D.M. F.D. E.A.E. M.E. W.F. P.G. R.D.G. E.G. C.H. J.H. V.K. M.Ko. M.Ke. A.K. D.L. R.M. M.G.M. K.Mo. T.M. K.Mu. E.N. A.Pen. H.Pe. D.P.-A. A.R. R.S. F.S. M.Sc. M.Shag. M.Shar. C.S.-A. C.S. I.S. M.St. R.W.T. D.R.T. E.L.T. J.-S.W. D.W.; Methodology: G.F.V. S.W. R.G.F. J.A.M.; Visualization: G.F.V. S.W. H.B. J.S.; Writing-original draft: G.F.V. S.W.; Writing-review and editing: G.F.V. S.W. Y.M.-G. Y.E.L. R.G.F. J.A.M. H.B. L.D.S. H.Pr. A.Pec. F.S.A. J.J.B. G.B. I.B. N.B. B.B. J.C. E.C. D.C. A.M.D. N.D. A.D.M. F.D. E.A.E. M.E. W.F. P.G. R.D.G. E.G. C.H. J.H. V.K. M.Ko. M.Ke. A.K. D.L. R.M. M.G.M. K.Mo. T.M. K.Mu. E.N. A.Pen. H.Pe. D.P.-A. A.R. R.S. F.S. M.Sc. M.Shag. M.Shar. C.S.-A. C.S. I.S. M.St. R.W.T. D.R.T. E.L.T. J.-S.W. D.W. This study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Institutional Review Board of the Medical University of Innsbruck and the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki.29 Participants gave written informed consent for genetic investigations according to local regulations

Creatine transporter deficiency: Novel mutations and functional studies

X-linked cerebral creatine deficiency (MIM 300036) is caused by deficiency of the creatine transporter encoded by the SLC6A8 gene. Here we report three patients with this condition from Israel. These unrelated patients were evaluated for global developmental delays and language apraxia. Borderline microcephaly was noted in one of them. Diagnosis was prompted by brain magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy which revealed normal white matter distribution, but absence of the creatine peak in all three patients. Biochemical testing indicated normal plasma levels of creatine and guanidinoacetate, but an increased urine creatine/creatinine ratio. The diagnosis was confirmed by demonstrating absent [14]C-creatine transport in fibroblasts. Molecular studies indicated that the first patient is hemizygous for a single nucleotide change substituting a single amino acid (c.619 C>T, p.R207W). Expression studies in HeLa cells confirmed the causative role of the R207W substitution. The second patient had a three base pair deletion in the SLC6A8 gene (c.1222_1224delTTC, p.F408del) as well as a single base change (c.1254+1G>A) at a splicing site in the intron-exon junction of exon 8, the latter occurring de novo. The third patient, had a three base pair deletion (c.1006_1008delAAC, p.N336del) previously reported in other patients with creatine transporter deficiency. These three patients are the first reported cases of creatine transporter deficiency in Israel